The way forward - lgwm.nz · THE WAY FORWARD FOR LGWM The government’s announcement provides a clear way forward. It gives LGWM the confidence to take our work forward and commence

The way forward May 2019

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THE GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED AN INDICATIVE PACKAGE AND

THE PROGRAMME PARTNERS ARE MOVING TO DELIVER THE EARLY

PARTS OF THE PROGRAMME

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Engaging with central governmentWORKING TOWARDS A FUNDABLE PACKAGEOnce the Recommended Programme of Investment (RPI) was endorsed by the LGWM Governance Group, it was shared with central government due to its scale and the funding challenges it presents.

The LGWM vision and the RPI are ambitious. The Governance Group challenged the LGWM team to be bold so we didn’t miss any opportunities to support the city and region’s success. As such, LGWM acknowledges the RPI as a whole is unlikely to be fundable within current transport funding settings.

However, LGWM’s focus on integrating land use with transport investment has the potential to deliver large benefits via urban regeneration and uplift – especially from a new mass transit system.  

With this in mind, members of the LGWM Governance Group engaged with transport ministers to develop an innovative funding model for LGWM and to seek support for an initial package of investments that would allow early and substantial progress to be made in realising the ambitions of the RPI.

As the engagement progressed, the initial package of investments became known as an “indicative package”.

THE INDICATIVE PACKAGEOn 16 May 2019, the government announced the indicative package for LGWM including a central government funding commitment. LGWM welcomes and supports the announcement.

This announcement provides a way forward for LGWM to deliver a step-change in transport to support the city and region’s growth, and realise much of LGWM’s vision, while being affordable within long-term transport funding priorities.

The indicative package is yet to be considered or endorsed by the LGWM programme partners, who will be responsible for committing funding to the programme.

Learn more about the indicative package here.

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Delivering the programme

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Next stepsTHE WAY FORWARD FOR LGWMThe government’s announcement provides a clear way forward.

It gives LGWM the confidence to take our work forward and commence more detailed investigation of the elements of the programme, and how these will work together to deliver on our objectives.

Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and the NZ Transport Agency will now consider the government’s announcements and work to approve the next steps for the LGWM programme.

Engaging with stakeholdersConnecting with stakeholder groups over coming months to discuss the indicative package and the way forward for the programme.

Early deliveryCommencing work on a programme of early delivery to start getting Wellington Moving (see p 6)

Business case developmentStarting detailed business case work on the larger elements of LGWM’s programme, such as mass transit. This work will include investigation and analysis, including economic and environmental assessment, and evaluation of alternative solutions (see page 9)

Programme fundingAgreeing the funding requirements for LGWM’s implementation. This will require changes to the councils’ long-term plans and the Regional Land Transport Plan.

Partnership agreementDeveloping a new partnership agreement and delivery model among the LGWM partners to ensure the delivery of the programme.

YOUR SAYLocal government’s contribution to LGWM will require amendments to Councils’ long term plans. Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council will seek the public’s views through their LTP processes.

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Early deliveryA PROGRAMME OF EARLY WORK TO START GETTING WELLINGTON MOVINGWhile we work on the next steps for the wider programme, we need to make a start now on moving more people with fewer vehicles.

We’re proposing an early delivery programme to help change how people move into and around the city.

We want to make travelling by bus to the central city a faster and more reliable choice. We also want to create a better environment for people walking and on bikes.

The key elements of the early delivery programme will be:

• Golden Mile

• Thorndon Quay/Hutt Road

• Safer speeds

• Cobham Drive crossing

WELLINGTON

Seatoun

Kilbirnie

Lyall Bay

Island Bay

Owhiro Bay

Hataitai

Newtown

Brooklyn

Evans Bay

Lambton Harbour

Thorndon

Te AroMt Victoria

RoseneathSafer speed limits and pedestrian improvements in the central city

Cobham Drive walking and cycling crossing

Safer speed limits on the state highway east of Mt Victoria

Prioritising buses and improvements for people walking and cycling on the Golden Mile

Prioritising buses and improvements for people cycling and walking on Thorndon Quay and Hutt Road

Improved bus reliability and speed along core routes

Stadium

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Early delivery (continued)THE GOLDEN MILE Prioritising buses and improving walking and cyclingThe Golden Mile – Lambton Quay to Courtenay Place – is the heart of Wellington, the busiest pedestrian area and a key shopping and entertainment destination. It’s also the main route for buses bringing 12,000 people to the central city every weekday.

Travelling by bus along the Golden Mile is often slow and congested, making it an unreliable option.

This needs to change, so we’ll give buses more priority. Before the end of the year, we’ll start work on minor improvements, such as bus detection at traffic lights. Later, this will lead to changes in how road space is allocated to each transport mode, such as extra bus priority lanes, to help more people travel along the Golden Mile in fewer vehicles.

We’ll ensure the Golden Mile and central city remain a great place to walk, shop and dine by making it easier and more pleasant for people walking. We’ll:

• Add crossings where they’re needed

• Reduce how long people wait to cross on busy walking routes.

THORNDON QUAY/HUTT ROAD Prioritising buses and improving walking and cyclingHutt Road and Thorndon Quay is a critical route to and from the city. It’s the key entry point from the north with around 580 people on bikes, 170 people walking, 1,960 people driving through in cars, and 3,260 people on buses using Thorndon Quay during the weekday morning peak.

But buses are often stuck in traffic, and parts of the route are poor for people cycling.

We’ll:

• Give buses priority, making them a reliable choice for people travelling to and from work,

• Make it safer for people cycling on the planned Petone-to-Ngauranga cycleway to connect into the city.

YOUR SAYWe’ll ask you what you think of options to improve the Golden Mile next year.

YOUR SAYWe’ll develop proposals for improvements to Hutt Road and Thorndon Quay and seek your feedback by the middle of next year

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YOUR SAYWe’ll ask for your views on safer speeds later this year.

YOUR SAYWe’ll ask for your views on crossing options by the end of the year

Early delivery (continued)NEW CROSSING ON COBHAM DRIVE A safer connection for people walking and cyclingWe want to make it safer for people to cross some of our busier roads.

We’ll start with Cobham Drive – helping people walking and cycling to safely cross and connect with the new cycleway around Evans Bay and community facilities in Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay.

SAFER SPEEDS Making our roads safer for everyoneTo move more people with fewer vehicles, we need to make our roads safer for everyone – especially people walking and biking.

Setting safer speeds in the central city and on the state highway east of Mt Victoria is an important first step.

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What are the next steps for...…MASS TRANSIT?Once the programme is endorsed by the three partners, work can begin on investigation, design, and evaluation of mass transit.

This work will be extensive.

As part of our Recommended Programme of Investment, we identified a preferred route at a high level, however further investigation is needed to test our assumptions.

The final mass transit route will depend on a number of variables, such as the mode of mass transit selected, and how best to integrate mass transit with other programme elements.

This work will involve engagement with the community and with people who could be directly affected.

…BASIN RESERVE?Once the programme is endorsed by the three partners, work will begin on developing minor at-grade changes to improve reliable access for all modes.

We will also commence work on detailed investigation of grade separation between north-south movements, east-west movements and any mass transit corridors. This work will help determine which form of grade separation will provide the best outcomes for the transport network and the community.

Engagement with the community will be needed to explore and develop a design that achieves transport outcomes, is sympathetic to the local geography, enhances the use of the Basin, and improves amenity around the reserve.

YOUR SAYIt will be some time before we know the effects of any design options for these programme elements. We will work to keep the community informed and engage with the public when we have appropriate information.

…MT VICTORIA AND RUAHINE ST/ WELLINGTON RD WIDENING?Once the programme is endorsed by the three partners, work can begin on investigation, design, and evaluation of an extra Mt Victoria tunnel and any road widening.

This work will involve engagement with the community and with people who could be directly affected.

LGWM IS LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY TO

GET WELLINGTON MOVING

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